Equipment
Did Justin Rose confirm his switch to Honma?
Our Oct. 26 Forum Thread of the Day centered around Justin Rose’s potential defection from TaylorMade and move to Japanese luxury club brand Honma. Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura, the Morning Read, the Irish Times, and the Sun Times, have all added fuel to that fire.
And on the subject of fire, asked about the potential change following his Turkish Airlines Open win, Rose said
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Speculation had been rampant in the GolfWRX forums for weeks, with several members with connections to the company indicating they’d heard Rose would soon be a Honma man. For example, mallrat said: “A teaching pro at our club is on staff with Honma and told me the same thing on Weds.”
Beyond the Englishman’s seeming admission that the rumor is true, his agent, Mark Steinberg is mum. Likewise, neither TaylorMade nor Honma has commented.
Suspicion as to why Rose, a long-time TaylorMade staffer and the No. 1 golfer in the world, would defect to a Japanese luxury brand with little presence on the PGA Tour centers around Mark King. The former TaylorMade president and CEO joined Honma as a consultant in August.
Per Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura,
“King, who was CEO at TaylorMade from 1999-2013, stood by Rose in his early professional days when he missed the first 21 cuts of his career and posted a stroke average of 75.18 in his 1999 European Tour season.”
Stachura also indicated King has brought several former TaylorMade staffers to the company. With TaylorMade from 1994 to 2014, King said in August that the company would be looking to establish a presence on the PGA Tour and debut new products in 2019 (per Golf Inc.).
Under the guidance of Chinese businessman Liu Jianguo, Honma, now publicly traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange, has seen sales growth over the past four years amid a reworked business model. The brand now looks to expand into the United States and establish a foothold in the luxury equipment space, which is presently dominated by the likes of XXIO and PXG.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Cameron Halkett
Nov 20, 2018 at 10:13 pm
I’m just reading Honma’s H1 Results. Within page 20 of their presentation they list that a “TOP PGA player as a global brand ambassador”.
I would say that almost confirms it.
Doug McManus
Nov 9, 2018 at 11:12 pm
They are great clubs, very nice quality. The Honma Tour World 737 driver is longer than the Callaway Rogue. I can’t say enough good things about the clubs, if you have the money and want the best buy a set!
ogo
Nov 9, 2018 at 12:14 am
BREAKING NEWS***** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kuFf8cCQlg
Hailstorm in New South Wales, Australia, hailstones the size of GOLF BALLS!!!
Those Aussies really take their golf seriously !!!! 😮
Tom
Nov 8, 2018 at 7:22 pm
Where did my previous post go?
G-head
Nov 8, 2018 at 12:48 pm
Honma… Honma… Honmaaaaaa (Beres)
Dave r
Nov 8, 2018 at 11:50 am
I always believed you got what you paid for, and the same is still true . Buying off the rack will get you nothing to buy properly you need to be fitted properly. The shaft is what makes a club work, thinking you are buying what the pros are hitting is nothing but b.s. Not one player on tour is playing so called STOCK . And it would be nieve to think so . Even weekend golfers would benefit from paying for a fitting . A good fitting pro can do it in 1/2 hour with all the proper fitting material out there today.
Richard Tucker
Nov 7, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Very smart move by Honma. Anyone who has played their irons will know just how good they are I have for 25 years. They are the next step up from Mizuno and very much on par with PXG. I would imagine it would be a iron only contract as I cant see him changing drivers or putters anytime soon,
Aaron Smith
Nov 7, 2018 at 8:21 pm
It’s a 13 club deal with only the putter left out
Evan
Nov 9, 2018 at 12:41 am
“On par with PXG” LOL.
Nick
Nov 19, 2018 at 9:52 am
What Evan said.
Travis
Nov 7, 2018 at 1:48 pm
I dig it. I wouldn’t mind seeing more brands in play and popular in the US.
TONEY P
Nov 7, 2018 at 12:53 pm
Players will endorse anything for enough money. And any true golfer knows, you can’t buy a golf swing no matter what your clubs cost.
Clint
Nov 7, 2018 at 12:10 pm
“Luxury” clubs are a joke and a waste of money. They are literally just a status symbol because the performance doesn’t merit the exorbitant price tags. I could probably argue that with most golf equipment though. The need for the “latest and greatest” in golf is really unnecessary since equipment performance improvements happen so slowly.
Jed
Nov 7, 2018 at 1:35 pm
The Asians that buy them don’t really care how they hit them. $$$ is king to them.
Mbwa Kali Sana
Nov 7, 2018 at 3:01 pm
HONMA isn’t just a”LUXURY BRAND ” .Their irons are far better than competition ,if you choose their 4 Star or 5 Star shafts .
I own a full set of HONMA clubs since 10 years :these were manufactured in JAPAN with much more care than the AMERICAN brands
Their woods ,in contrast, are not better than the big “AMERICAN “(Made in CHINA !!!)woods
CaoNiMa
Nov 7, 2018 at 10:35 pm
Idiots will believe anything.
Mizuno irons are far better and real players know.
Just because you paid more money for something doesn’t make it better.
It’s sad that the name of Honma has been raped to this extent. It’s owned by the Chinese. Honma no longer is the same company it was when it was the best at making persimmon woods. None of the original owners or designers are there. That’s why their new stuff look like everything else, instead of looking special like they used to.
Now it’s just a joke.